Madoff Agrees To

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[View Slide Show: The Madoff RipOff Bernard Madoff, the Wall Street investment adviser accused of running a $50 billion securities fraud, has agreed to extend court orders freezing his assets and appointing a receiver for his firm, according to court documents. A hearing in federal court scheduled for Friday in the US Securities Exchange Commission civil case against Madoff, 70, was canceled after the agreement with the regulator. Madoff, arrested on Dec. 11, is also accused in a criminal complaint of one count of securities fraud. A federal court froze the assets of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC and appointed Lee Richards, an attorney at Richards Kibbe &amp; Orbe in New York as a receiver. Madoff also consented to the broker-dealer part of the firm going under the receivership of the Securities Investor Protection Corp, which was created by Congress in 1970. As part of the extension order signed by US District Court Judge Louis Stanton late on Thursday, Madoff consented to providing a verified written accounting of his firm's records by Dec. 31. These include &quot;all assets, liabilities and property, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, investments, business interests, loans and lines of credit,&quot; according to court documents in the SEC case. Madoff is free on $10 million bail. He has been ordered to wear an electronic ankle bracelet and is confined to his luxury Manhattan apartment except for appointments prearranged with authorities. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that an SEC memorandum showed Madoff's firm may have had thousands of clients. The report said the regulator and other investigators are also examining whether Madoff's wife, Ruth Madoff, had any role in the alleged fraud. Madoff, a former Nasdaq stock market chairman who counted celebrities and many friends among his investors, was unable to obtain four co-signers to guarantee the bond after his arrest. Only two people, his wife and brother Peter, who also worked at Madoff's firm, signed for the bond to keep him out of jail. In lieu of two additional signatures, Madoff and the government agreed on Wednesday that his wife would surrender her passport and put up a $3.1 million home in Montauk, New York, and a $9.4 million home in Palm Beach, Florida, as collateral. The couple's $7 million Manhattan apartment has also been put up as collateral, and Madoff has also surrendered his passport. The SEC case is SEC v Madoff, 08-10791, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). The criminal case is US v Madoff, 08-2735 in the same court. (Reuters)